UCD Theoretical Physics

Sleepwalking

Hey guys,

Any undergrads/grads that could give opinions on the Theoretical Physics course in UCD?

1. In terms of difficulty
2. Amount of work involved (how many hours of lectures and labs a week)
3. Quality of lecturers
4. Class size etc

Would appreciate it.

Edit: I'd like to note that most of the topics on Theoretical Physics are usually on TCD & were posted 2004-2008.

b0gg3r

1. It's Theoretical Physics. It's hard. You have scope when you enter to specialise in Maths, Experimental, and maybe Computational by the time you get there.

2. Probably about 20 hours per week lectures/tutorials, tack on another 10 for labs and such.

3. Ranging from piss poor to quite good.

4. Starts about 200 because you start in general science. Whittles down to a class of probably about 20.

tina1040

Is it similar for Mathematics through general science?

Blue giant

tina1040 wrote: »

Is it similar for Mathematics through general science?

You will have a lot of the same modules in first year and some in second year. Hours for maths would be less than physics since there are no labs involved. Think I had about 25 in 1st/2nd year down to 18 last year but obviously have more time dedicated to studying in third year From talking to friends and my own experiences I would say the quality of teaching is generally very good and the lecturers seem to want to do their best for you. Your class sizes will get smaller throughout the degree with >150 in some first year modules to less than 20 by third and fourth year.

AllForIt

The general policy in UCD is to overload the student with as much work as they can get away with. This policy veils the fact that they are unable to provide adequate tutorial activity due to 'budget restrictions'. Which makes we wonder why they don't downsize but hey ho. I wouldn't study a difficult science subject in UCD if I were you. Your basically on your own there.

Sleepwalking

I prefer smaller class sizes so it's good to hear that they get smaller as the years go on.

How is the mathematics department and their teaching? This is a fairly important question.

In terms of graduate opportunities, is it possible to get into unis such as Oxford and Cambridge after graduating from UCD?

Cheers,
SW

b0gg3r

Sleepwalking wrote: »

I prefer smaller class sizes so it's good to hear that they get smaller as the years go on.

How is the mathematics department and their teaching? This is a fairly important question.

In terms of graduate opportunities, is it possible to get into unis such as Oxford and Cambridge after graduating from UCD?

Cheers,
SW

Yes, a friend on mine is progressing to a PhD in Biomed in Cambridge.

Blue giant

Sleepwalking wrote: »

I prefer smaller class sizes so it's good to hear that they get smaller as the years go on.

How is the mathematics department and their teaching? This is a fairly important question.

In terms of graduate opportunities, is it possible to get into unis such as Oxford and Cambridge after graduating from UCD?

Cheers,
SW

The teaching is generally quite good. There’s some that are excellent and a few not so good but I never had any real difficulty with any lecturer. They all seem to want you to do well and help you as much as possible which is all you can ask for.

As for graduate opportunities, it is definitely possible to go on to Oxford or Cambridge if you’re good enough.

Sleepwalking

b0gg3r wrote: »

Yes, a friend on mine is progressing to a PhD in Biomed in Cambridge.

Blue giant wrote: »

The teaching is generally quite good. There’s some that are excellent and a few not so good but I never had any real difficulty with any lecturer. They all seem to want you to do well and help you as much as possible which is all you can ask for.

As for graduate opportunities, it is definitely possible to go on to Oxford or Cambridge if you’re good enough.

Thanks for the responses guys. I appreciate it a lot.

I was very stubborn about going TCD but UCD looks like it's decent option as well!